No. 5 Team Subdues North Chicago On Foul Shots

In a foul-filled contest with first place in the North Suburban Conference on the line, host Stevenson defeated North Chicago 69-57.

Fifth-ranked Stevenson (5-0, 1-0), which had a sizable lead early in the game, squandered it and allowed pesky North Chicago (4-1, 1-1) to tie the score at 57 with 1 minute 38 seconds left in regulation when Jamal Patterson hit the front end of a one-and-one.

Then the Warhawks lost their chance to take the lead for the first time when Patterson missed the bonus.

From there, Stevenson pulled away on free throws, hitting 6 of 8 to go up 63-57 with 23 seconds left.

``I never thought we were going to give it away at any point in the game,`` said Stevenson coach Ken Johnson. ``We played great defense the first half, and when we had to, we came back and did the same thing in the second half.

``We got the rebounds when we needed them, and the kids really responded when they had to. We came out and missed some early shots in the third quarter, and then we got (Kenyon) Catchings and (Jason) Justus in foul trouble. And, don`t forget, we didn`t have Coleman in there.``

Patriots standout forward Chris Coleman was out with an ankle injury.

``The guys never lost their composure,`` Johnson said. ``They had the two guys in foul trouble (Catchings eventually fouled out). They all came through. Our bench, especially, did a job.``

Stevenson led 39-27 after an exciting, but long, first half. Officiating played a great part in the 45-minute half as just about every imaginable foul was called. Stevenson led 15-10 in that department.

The Patriots got off to a 9-0 lead before North Chicago`s David Gardner scored with 4:39 left in the first quarter. The Warhawks missed their first seven shots; they were 3 of 19 and committed four turnovers in the first quarter. They were 6 of 33 from the field in the first half and 17 of 67 for the game.

Stevenson led 22-8 after the first quarter. North Chicago picked up the pace in the second quarter, outscoring Stevenson 19-17.

Guard Hasan Ahmad, one of North Chicago`s key players, scored a team-leading 12 points in the first half and wound up with 24 for the night.

Erich Roth led Stevenson with 21 points, 12 in the first half. Justus and Catchings added 16 and 10, respectively. North Chicago`s Cyrus Johnson scored 17.